Find out how popular the last name Donohue is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Donohue.

Donohue, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Donohue surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Donohue in America

Donohue is the 2587th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Donohue surname appeared 13,919 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Donohue.

We can also compare 2010 data for Donohue to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Donohue

The surname DONOHUE has its origins in Ireland, and can be traced back to the medieval period. It is an Anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Donnchadha, which means "descendant of Donnchadh." Donnchadh was a personal name derived from the words "donn" meaning brown, and "cath" meaning battle or warrior.

DONOHUE was most commonly found in counties Cork, Kerry, and Limerick in the southwestern region of Ireland. Early records indicate that the name was particularly prominent in the barony of Magunihy in County Kerry. The surname is also linked to the O'Donoghue clan, which ruled over the territory of Lough Lein (now known as the Lakes of Killarney) in the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest known records of the name can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a chieftain named Domhnall Ó Donnchadha in the year 1311. The surname also appears in the Fiants of the Tudor Reign, a collection of letters and documents from the 16th century.

The earliest recorded person with the surname DONOHUE was Tadhg Ó Donnchadha, who was born in County Kerry in 1470. Another notable figure was Geoffrey Donohue (1570-1644), an Irish soldier and landowner who fought in the Nine Years' War and the Irish Confederate Wars.

Other notable individuals with the surname DONOHUE include:

1. James Donohue (1805-1877), an Irish-American Catholic priest and educator who founded several schools and churches in New York.
2. Jeremiah Donohue (1819-1891), an Irish-American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
3. Michael Donohue (1872-1938), an Irish-American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Beaneaters in the late 19th century.
4. Kathleen Donohue (1888-1978), an American stage and film actress who appeared in over 50 movies during the silent film era and early talkies.
5. Joseph Donohue (1908-1994), an American artist and illustrator known for his work in comic books and pulp fiction magazines in the 1930s and 1940s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Donohue

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Donohue.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Donohue was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Donohue has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Donohue was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Donohue, please contact us.

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